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What do sharks do in the deep? Device may tell

A great white shark is corralled off the coast of

A great white shark, known as Genie, is corralled off the coast of Chatham, Mass., Sept. 13, 2012. Chris Fischer and his crew hope to understand great white's migratory patterns and breeding habits with the goal of providing policy makers with the necessary data to protect them. (Gretchen Ertl/The New York Times)

NYT

KATHARINE Q. SEELYENew York Times News Service

Published: Tuesday, September 25, 2012 at 11:19 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, September 25, 2012 at 11:19 a.m.

CHATHAM, Mass. – Beachgoers on Cape Cod may have spotted several sharks this summer, but when Chris Fischer and his crew went looking for the great whites here this month, there were none.

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For days, crew members scanned the sea from their converted crabbing vessel, the Ocearch, anchored in federal waters three miles off the Cape. Nine days passed. Then, on Sept. 13, a giant shark that would become known as Genie burst into oceanographic history. She became what Fischer said was the first great white – all 2,292 pounds of her – to be captured live off Cape Cod, the home waters of “Jaws.”

The Ocearch crew held her for 15 minutes in a cradle off the side of the boat. A team of scientists attached a GPS tag to her dorsal fin and took blood and tissue samples before releasing her back into the deep. Now the researchers, and anyone with an Internet connection, can follow her movements in real time online on the “shark tracker” on ocearch.org.

Four days later, the team landed a much bigger female – Mary Lee, who weighed in at 3,456 pounds and measured 16 feet. She was feistier, and her capture was more dramatic. She exhausted herself in a strong current before the crew pulled her into the cradle, with her thrashing tail swatting three of them.

The purpose of their mission, said Fischer, 44, is to crack the code of these mysterious animals. He and the scientists traveling with him hope to understand their migratory patterns and breeding habits, with the goal of providing policymakers with the necessary data to protect them. The online tracker can also alert coastal residents and tourists when sharks are in the vicinity.

Genie and Mary Lee are now pinging their locations to satellites and creating an online trail of where they have traveled since they were tagged.

From Chatham, Genie headed south, and then turned around; she is now lurking off the southern coast of Nantucket. Mary Lee swam north to Wellfleet, veered out into the Atlantic and then headed south. She is about even with Washington but still way out at sea.

“They show up at the Cape and they leave, and we don't know anything about them or what they're doing,” Fischer said. “This tracking will begin to reveal their lives. Anybody can learn about these sharks and follow their story.”

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